Track Work Continues

Most Of Facilities' Cost Being Paid With Turnback Money

— Har-Ber High School’s new track probably will be completed in time for the beginning of track and field season in the spring.

The $1.3 million track is one of several athletic facilities that either have been built recently or are under construction at Har-Ber. An indoor multiuse practice facility, which cost about $1.3 million, opened in early August. A softball practice field is also being built.

Timeline

Springdale Athletic Facilities

September 2010: Springdale voters rejected a 2.4-mill tax increase that would have provided money for two schools and an athletic complex at Har-Ber High School, including a football stadium, plus $3 million in improvements to Bulldog Stadium.

May 2011: Voters narrowly approved a 1.9-mill tax increase to pay for construction of a junior high and a middle school. Athletic facilities are left out of the proposal.

September 2011: The School Board approved building an eight-lane track and an indoor athletic facility at Har-Ber with money from the building fund and federal bonds.

Source: Staff Report

“If things go well, I think our track will be ready this spring,” said Gary Compton, assistant superintendent.

The track was painted Har-Ber blue. The next step is striping the track. Bleachers are up and lights have been installed. The sodding on the infield, a variety of grass called Patriot Bermuda “came out very nice,” Compton said, adding it might be able to double as a varsity soccer field.

Most of the cost of the new facilities is being paid with turnback money, which had been set aside for other construction projects but was needed because those projects were completed under budget. The district also used $1.1 million in federal no-interest bonds from the Qualified School Construction Bonds program.

School district officials long have wanted a second track. Southwest Junior High School has the only track in the district with 500 students from six schools practicing on it. Meanwhile, the district’s enrollment has skyrocketed in recent years, adding more than 700 students this year alone.

Wayne Stehlik, Springdale’s athletic director, said it’s a tribute to the coaches that no significant injuries have resulted from so many students using the same track.

Springdale needs the new track, Stehlik said.

“Anytime you add athletic facilities, it’s a great recruiting tool for families moving in to Northwest Arkansas,” he said. “Whether it’s Har-Ber or Springdale High, it’s a recruiting tool for the entire city.”

Compton said district officials are considering how to make the track available for the public’s use. The key is ensuring no one brings bicycles or motorized equipment on it, he said.

Also under construction is a concession stand with restrooms attached. A storage building, measuring 60 feet by 30 feet, is also planned at a cost of about $50,000. Construction of that building should begin this month, Stehlik said.

An area is set aside at Har-Ber for tennis courts, but that project has not been approved yet.

The biggest athletic facility lacking at Har-Ber High is a football stadium. Stehlik said he’s confident Har-Ber High eventually will get its own football stadium, with private donations playing a key part. Football stadiums can be used not only by the high school football teams, but also youth teams, cheerleading squads and bands, he said.

A completion date for the softball field, which Compton said would cost about $60,000, is uncertain.

“If things go very well, we may have our girls practicing there this spring,” Compton said.

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